The University of Glasgow

Facts & Figures:

Facts & Figures:

The University of Glasgow lies in the heart of the west end of
Glasgow on a campus that comes
complete with more listed buildings than any other Scottish university. It is
the second oldest university in Scotland, and the fourth oldest in the UK.
Nearly 50% of the students come from west central Scotland, an unusually high
proportion of local students. The university is nonetheless an extremely
cosmopolitan place, with students from over 120 countries among the other
50%.

Academically, Glasgow University is highly regarded. It is said to
offer the most comprehensive range of professional studies of any Scottish
university, plus a full selection of academic subjects. Organisationally, it is
divided into nine faculties: Arts; Biomedical & Life Sciences; Education;
Engineering; Information and Mathematical Sciences; Law, Business & Social
Sciences; Medicine (including Dentistry and Nursing); Physical Sciences ; and
Veterinary Medicine. The medical school is a particular strength, being
regarded as one of the very best in the UK.

The University Library, situated opposite the main building, is
regarded as one of the best academic libraries in Europe, with the number of
books alone topping two million. Situated over 12 floors, it also houses
sections for periodicals, microfilms, special collections and rare materials,
some of which are exhibited on the top floor. In addition to the main library,
subject libraries also exist for chemistry, dentistry, veterinary medicine,
education, and the Faculty of Social Sciences, which are held in separate
libraries.

Unlike other universities in Scotland, Glasgow does not have a
single students' association. Instead, representation and welfare services are
provided by the Students' Representative Council and students may also join one
of two students' unions, Glasgow University Union (GUU) and the Queen Margaret
Union (QMU), which provide other services. Neither of the University's
students' unions are affiliated to the National Union of Students. Some 3,500
students are housed in university halls of residence, and most first year
students live in university accommodation.

History

The founding of the University of Glasgow dates back to a Papal Bull
issued by Pope Nicholas V in 1451, in which he gave Bishop William Turnbull
permission to create a university alongside
Glasgow Cathedral. Behind the
scheme was James II's
desire to created in Scotland a second university (after
St Andrews) to give Scotland parity with England.
The original documents associated with the establishment of the university were
taken to France for safe keeping during the upheaval of the Scottish
Reformation of 1560, and
subsequently lost.

The university initially taught its students in the chapterhouse of
Glasgow Cathedral, before
moving to buildings in the area immediately around the cathedral. In 1563,
Mary, Queen of Scots gave
the university a 13 acre site on Glasgow's High street that had,
until the Reformation,
been home to a Dominican (Blackfriars) friary. By the beginning of the 1800s
the university had buildings that surrounded two courtyards with a clock tower
that featured strongly on the Glasgow skyline, a chapel converted
from the friary church of the Blackfriars and a series of walled gardens. What
many viewed as one of the finest complexes of Renaissance buildings in Scotland
was simply demolished when the University of Glasgow moved to its current less
confined greenfield site on Gilmorehill in the city's west end in 1870.

The purpose-built campus was designed by Sir George Gilbert Scott in
the Gothic revival style. The largest of the original buildings, the Gilbert
Scott Building, reflected (albeit on a larger scale) the High Street campus's
twin quadrangle layout. Between the two quadrangles, Scott's son Oldrid built
an open undercroft, above which is his grand Bute Hall, used for examinations
and graduation ceremonies, and the Gothic bell tower. The sandstone cladding
and Gothic design of the exterior conceal what were at the time high tech
construction methods using iron frames. The result was the second-largest
example of Gothic revival architecture in Britain, after the Palace of
Westminster.

From these already grand beginnings, the university rapidly spread
across the rest of Gilmorehill, acquiring surrounding housing for conversion
into teaching facilities when necessary. Meanwhile the medical school developed
in a westerly direction where it joined with the neighbouring Western General
Infirmary. In 1954 the school of veterinary medicine moved to the edge of the
city, while the university's sports facilities moved to Anniesland, two miles
west of the main campus. Student halls of residence have been built in both
Anniesland and Maryhill.